PeopleClaim helps resolve consumer and commercial complaints

PeopleClaim helps resolve consumer and commercial complaints against businesses,
professionals, government agencies, or individuals by exposing bad business practices
and unfair treatment. Aggrieved parties are invited to use PeopleClaim's dispute
resolution process free of charge or choose premium options that may help resolve
disputes faster.

Bad Business Practices

Privacy concern

Misrepresentation or fraud

Poor customer service

Unfair practice

Claimant's opinion: Withholding over $8600 of my money with no explanation or reason. Not being able to talk to a live person and the companies inability to respond back to any of my e-mails or to release my funds even after all requested documentation has been taxed & received by them.

Problem With A Service

Service wasn't completed as promised

Poor customer service

Claimant's opinion: What kind of company has no customer service, no phone number to reach anyone. What kind of company just stops depositing your money for absolutely no reason at all without any notice what so ever? What kind of company doesn't respond to any e-mails sent? What kind of company says they will reslease my funds after giving them requested documentation, then the documents are sent, and you never hear from them again? They lied about releasing my funds after getting all requested documentation! They are obviously fraudulent or they wouldn't be sitting on MY hard earned money

Contract / Agreement / Promise Dispute

Inadequate disclosure or misleading information

Breach of contract

Claimant's opinion: They state that they will deposit all funds the next business day, they have not done this.They said they would release my funds after getting all requested documentation. I faxed everything twice to the number they gave me and they have never responded to any of my e-mails since or acknowledged receiving the requested documentation.

Customer Service Runarounds

"I Just Feel Ripped Off."

"I signed up with Square to do my retail Store's credit card processing on August 9, 2012. With almost no questions asked of me or my business they started doing my store's credit card processing within 2 hours. All went fine the first week, they did what they advertised & deposited all monies from my credit card sales into my business account the next business day. The 2nd week was a entirely different experience! With no notice, no reason, no advance warning they stopped depositing all monies from my credit card sales into my business account. They continued taking my customers credit cards but stopped depositing the money into my account on August 17th, instead they kept all monies. I do approximately 35 credit card transactions a day, averaging approx. $1100 a day. Approx. 68% of all my sales are paid for by credit cards. All sales are made physically in my store, none are made over the internet, all credit cards are swiped and each sale gets a signature. I wrote Square an e-mail asking them why they stopped depositing my funds and I got absolutely no response. I found a phone number for Square, called and thought I could talk to a human or leave a message, that was not the case. The message says if you want to talk to someone hold on the line but after over 50 attempts I realized there is no one to talk to & each call ended up with being cut off and disconnected. I tried calling and e-mailing for days, I kept asking them why they stopped depositing my money. I finally stopped using Square around noon on the 24th of August. On that date, much later in the day, I received a computer automated letter, saying that they wanted certain documentation from me, business licenses, social security number or EIN numbers, tax permits, and details on my credit card transactions. Still they gave me no reason for withholding my funds. By the 24th of August they were withholding $8769.76 of my money. A few days later they e-mailed me another computer generated letter, saying they already e-mailed me the same letter on the 17th. They did not, that was a lie. They were now requesting all sorts of documentation, but not being specific enough. Did they want details on all the credit cards I had run since starting with them on August 9th? I had no idea but I couldn't get an answer or response again & still no reason for requesting such documents. They gave me no fax number, no address, nothing at all but the e-mail address. I attempted to scan all requested documentation but according tho them, they never received all the documents. I asked for a fax number, they e-mailed me a fax number that did not work. My transmission report said that Square's fax was not turned on!? No one has ever tried calling me, even though I've left my phone number on every e-mail that I sent. The following day they e-mailed saying that their fax was in working order. I checked & now it was working so I successfully faxed all requested documentation, business license, tobacco license, City License, detailed explanation on the last 10 credit card transactions run through square, etc. I faxed them everything they requested twice. I sent an e-mail to Crystal, the name on the previous e-mail to please confirm that they've received the requested documents, they never responded. I sent them two more e-mails that day, they still never responded. That was on the 14th of September. Since the 14th, I have sent them over 30 e-mails, asking why they haven't released my funds nor responded to any of my e-mails since faxing ALL requested documents. I have NEVER heard from "Square" AGAIN, and they have now been withholding my $8769.76 for well over a month, for absolutely no reason. I told them that I needed this money desperately to continue operating my store. I told them over and over that my employees must be paid, my rent, my operating expenses and my sales tax. Still no response. I also told them the truth, that my son has cancer, and I needed the funds to help pay for his cancer treatment, and still they have never responded or released my funds. They ignored all 30 of my e-mails I have sent this past week. That is a lot of money for a small business, and I have had to use up my savings. I need the money! I have worked very hard to make this money & to build my business from scratch. I started my business 6 years ago, and have never had a problem with my credit card processing company I used for 6 years. I only switched to save on processing fees. I am a legitimate business with all the proper licenses, etc. Please help me get my money released. I desperately need the money!"

Have filed a claim with the Bettee Business Bureau & Federal Trade Commission.

Sep 28, 2012, Claiming party added:

The claim is for Linda Becker / Nirvana Smoke & Gift

Sep 29, 2012, Claiming party added:

That is an out & out lie. They asked me for specific documentation & I not only gave them every single specific thing they asked for plus extra information THRY never requested. I sent them 3 e-mails that day asking them to acknowledge receipt of the information I faxed. I also sent them all information a third time via certified mail. I have written them at least 30 e-mails since sending them ALL REQUESTED DOCUMENTS & them have NEVER RESPONSED TO ANY OF MY E-MAILS, this is over a 15 day period. I have read all 15 pages of their user agreement & no where does it say they have the right to hold my money UNLESS THE CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS ARE NOT SWIPED. THEY WERE ALL SWIPED. This is the first I have heard that I failed to send them all documentation requested. The San Francisco BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU said they have so many similar complaints they have contacted the attorney general & FTC. I have already done the same. If they say they will release my $8769.00 after obtaining more information from me don't I have the right to know what information they want? What didn't they get? What els is needed so that they will release my funds? They have no phone number, no customer service & don't respond to any of my e-mails so how go I get the "so called information" they still need?

Oct 01, 2012, Claiming party added:

I wanted to make an additional comment since Square seems to be playing games with my money, all $8769.76. Square stopped depositing my funds on August 17th. I made every attempt to contact them but had no luck so I stopped using them on August 24th. I sent Square copies and explanations of ALL 9 credit card transactions my store ran on August 24th. That is exactly what they asked for, and that is exactly what I sent them not just once, but twice by fax, by e-mail, and by certified mail, return receipt. I have proof of all documents that were sent to them. I also sent them all my business licenses,etc. I sent them MORE than they even asked for just to satisfy them and to show good will. I cannot send them something that doesn't exist, that doesn't pertain to my business at all. In my opinion they are asking for documentation just as an attempt to legitimize keeping my funds. They asked me for copies of service contracts. I HAVE NO SERVICE CONTRACTS BECAUSE I AM SOLELY A RETAIL STORE & I PROVIDE NO SERVICES, I ONLY SELL MERCHANDISE. I am a retail store & sell everything physically at my store. I do no internet sales, nor do I do phone sales. I sent them copies of ALL invoices with signatures that were ran through Square on August 24th. After trying to contact them for over a week, I realized they were not going to respond to my e-mails nor deposit my funds, so I stopped using Square on August 24th. Square NEVER sent me any e-mails or any response until AFTER I filed a claim against them with the Better Business Bureau. Then they sent me an e-mail saying they sent the same e-mail on August 17th, once again they lied. An e-mail is triggered every time I ran a credit card transaction through Square. I ALWAYS received every e-mail Square sent. Every credit card transactions that ran, generated an e-mail & I received every e-mail. Yet, I never received this so called e-mail they claim to have sent me on the 17th of August? When they finally did send me an e-mail, after my BBB complaint, they asked me to send them all sorts documentation, but never provided a fax number or an address. How odd is that? I scanned everything and e-mailed it, but they claimed they never received it. When I finally got a fax number, the transmission report said that THEIR FAX was not turned on, and was NOT working. When I finally got a working fax I sent them the requested documentation twice. I sent it twice because they refused to acknowledge receiving it, as I requested 3 times that day. The fax transmission report showed that it was received. I sent Square every single piece of documentation they requested, on the 14th of August, yet the ONLY time I have heard from them since is via THIS SITE! I also sent them ALL DOCUMENTATION again by certified mail, with a return receipt requested. Now Square is claiming I haven't sent them everything? BUT THERE IS NOTHING ELSE I CAN SEND, because I have sent then EVERYTHING they have asked for that pertains to my type of business, ALL INVOICES RAN ON THE 24TH OF AUGUST, WITH THE AUTHORIZATION ON EACH INVOICE WITH EACH OF MY CUSTOMERS SIGNATURES. I also provided a detailed explanation of each transaction, as they requested. What more could they possibly want? Why haven't they contacted me directly? I provided a phone number on each e-mail I sent them. Why haven't they responded to any of my e-mails? This company is obviously just sitting on my my money, and using my funds for their own self interests. So many others like myself, have written reviews saying exactly what I'm saying here. The BBB of San Francisco is trying to do something because of the number of complaints they have received & they are all very similar to mine. The BBB is somewhat limited to what they can do, but they have contacted regulating agencies in an attempt to deal with all of the complaints of withholding funds for no valid reason. I have read through their 15 page User Agreement and no where does it say they have the right to withhold funds UNLESS the credit card transactions are not swiped. ALL MY CC TRANSACTIONS ARE SWIPED. THEY ARE WITHHOLDING MY FUNDS FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON AT ALL. I HAVE EXCELLENT RATINGS & REVIEWS FROM CUSTOMERS AND RUN A CLEAN, LEGITIMATE BUSINESS. SQUARE IS OBVIOUSLY SITTING ON THEIR CUSTOMERS FUNDS & they don't care who they hurt along the way. My son has a metastatic cancer, it is rare and I have to travel for his treatments. I desperately need my funds to help pay for his cancer treatments & business expenses. I've informed Square of this many times, they have not responded to my last 32 E-mails. FYI, SQUARE NEVER GAVE ME ANY REASON AT ALL FOR WITHHOLDING MY FUNDS! ALL THEIR E-MAILS TOLD ME TO REFER TO SECTION 4 OF THEIR USER AGREEMENT, WHICH I DID. SECTION 4, GAVE ME NO INFORMATION AT ALL, AS TO WHY THEY ARE WITHHOLDING MY FUNDS, SINCE ALL MY TRANSACTIONS WERE SWIPED.

The claimant's settlement terms were rejected with the following explanation:

I need more information

"Square needs documentation related to the payments that were accepted on August 24, 2012, with the use of Square's service, such as invoices, credit card authorization forms, and/or service contracts. "

I disagree with the explanation / grounds provided

"On August 17, 2012, Square requested that the user provide information and documentation about her business and recent transactions, as authorized by Square's Merchant User Agreement. Some but not all of the requested documentation was provided. If the user provides documentation related to payments that were accepted with the use of Square's service on August 24, 2012 (namely invoices, credit card authorization forms, and/or service contracts), Square will review the documentation to determine if funds temporarily being held in the user's Square account should be released for deposit to the bank account linked to that Square account. "

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